Mideast hotel occupancy reaches 64pc in H1

London, July 23, 2014

The Middle East and Africa region has reported a one per cent increase in hotel room occupancy to 64.6 per cent in the first half of the year, according to an STR Global report.

The June results pointed out that the average daily rate increased 3.5 per cent to $169.2 and revenue per available room increased 4.5 per cent to $109.2, it said.

Elizabeth Winkle, managing director of STR Global, said: “While there has not been a lot of movement in occupancy, rate has increased by 5.4 percent when measured in a constant-currency basis in US dollars, resulting in RevPar growth of 6.4 percent for the first six months of the year.

“We are seeing rate growth for all three sub-regions, including the Middle East (2.4 per cent increase), Northern Africa (two per cent increase) and Southern Africa (7.2 per cent increase). It is nice to see some ADR growth across the region, albeit muted, in spite of instability and turbulence in many of the countries.”

“The Middle East, which will be affected by Ramadan starting in June, has reported a mixed picture for the first six months of the year,” said Winkle.

“Jordan and the UAE have been the standout countries so far this year. Coming from a low base, Jordan (11.4 per cent) and Bahrain (18.3 per cent) both recorded double-digit RevPar increases for the first half of the year, in local and constant currency”.

In June, the region’s occupancy fell 0.6 per cent to 61.3 per cent; its ADR increased 3 per cent to $142.8; and its RevPar rose 2.4 per cent to $87.57.

The highlights among the region’s key markets for June included largest occupancy rates in Doha with a 17.4 per cent increase to 75.2 per cent and Beirut with a 17.2 per cent riset to 63.7 per cent, while Nairobi reported the largest occupancy decrease.

Meanwhile, Riyadh fell 6.9 per cent in ADR to $221.47, posting the largest decrease in that metric. Four markets experienced a RevPar growth of more than 15 per cent, including Manama, Beirut, Cape Town and Doha. - TradeArabia News Service